View from the Ice

* The NHL’s free-agency period began on July 1 and with so many players involved in hockey’s version of musical chairs, at times it can be difficult to keep track of all of the movement. Here is a list of the biggest signings/trades that have taken place over the first seven days.

Old Faces in New Places:

Jay Bouwmeester —Traded to & then signed with Calgary (from Florida)

Jordan Leopold — Traded to & then signed with Florida (from Calgary)

Scott Gomez — Traded to Montreal from NY Rangers

Christopher Higgins — Traded to NY Rangers from Montreal

Mattias Ohlund — Signed with Tampa (from Vancouver)

Colton Orr — Signed with Toronto (from NY Rangers)

Craig Anderson — Signed with Colorado (from Florida)

Marian Hossa — Signed with Chicago (from Detroit)

Ty Conklin — Signed with St. Louis (from Detroit)

Matt Walker — Signed with Tampa (from Chicago)

Dwayne Roloson — Signed with NY Islanders (from Edmonton)

Tomas Kopecky — Signed with Chicago (from Detroit)

Steve Montador — Signed with Buffalo (from Boston)

Mike Knuble — Signed with Washington (from Philadelphia)

Donald Brashear — Signed with NY Rangers (from Washington)

Brian Boucher — Signed with Philadelphia (from San Jose)

Jaroslav Spacek — Signed with Montreal (from Buffalo)

Nikolai Khabibulin — Signed with Edmonton (from Chicago)

Scott Clemmensen — Signed with Florida (from New Jersey)

Ian Laperriere — Signed with Philadelphia (from Colorado)

Michael Rupp — Signed with Pittsburgh (from New Jersey)

Hal Gill — Signed with Montreal (from Pittsburgh)

Mike Cammalleri — Signed with Montreal (from Calgary)

Pavel Kubina — Traded to Atlanta from Toronto

Garnet Exelby — Traded to Toronto from Atlanta

Greg Zanon — Signed with Minnesota (from Nashville)

Vernon Fiddler — Signed with Phoenix (from Nashville)

Mike Komisarek — Signed with Toronto (from Montreal)

Steve Begin — Signed with Boston (from Dallas)

Samuel Pahlsson — Signed with Columbus (from Chicago)

Mathieu Garon — Signed with Columbus (from Pittsburgh)

Marian Gaborik — Signed with NY Rangers (from Minnesota)

Brian Gionta — Signed with Montreal (from New Jersey)

John Madden — Signed with Chicago (from New Jersey)

Fredrik Sjostrom — Signed with Calgary (from NY Rangers)

Jason LaBarbera — Signed with Phoenix (from Vancouver)

Martin Havlat — Signed with Minnesota (from Chicago)

Nikolai Antropov — Signed with Atlanta (from NY Rangers)

Adrian Aucoin — Signed with Phoenix (from Calgary)

Karlis Skrastins — Signed with Dallas (from Florida)

Rob Scuderi — Signed with Los Angeles (from Pittsburgh)

Mikael Samuelsson — Signed with Vancouver (from Detroit)

Shane Hnidy — Signed with Minnesota (from Boston)

Ryan Smyth — Traded to Los Angeles from Colorado

Tom Preissing — Traded to Colorado from Los Angeles

Kyle Quincey — Traded to Colorado from Los Angeles

Tyler Arnason — Signed with NY Rangers (from Colorado)

Andrew Raycroft — Signed with Vancouver (from Colorado)

Alex Kovalev — Signed with Ottawa (from Montreal)

Jeff Taffe — Signed with Florida (from Pittsburgh)

Francois Beauchemin — Signed with Toronto (from Anaheim)

Jonas Gustavsson — Signed with Toronto (from Swedish Elite League)

Jeff Woywitka — Signed with Dallas (from St. Louis)

Stephane Veilleux — Signed with Tampa (from Minnesota)

Dany Sabourin — Signed with Boston (from Edmonton)

* Calling it quits…Next year: Both Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne and Boston’s Mark Recchi signed one-year deals this past week and then promptly revealed that next season will be their last in the NHL.

*Hero on the shelf: Pittsburgh Penguins forward Maxime Talbot underwent surgery to repair the torn labrum in his left shoulder Tuesday, and his recovery is expected to take four to five months. The 25-year-old, who scored both goals in Pittsburgh’s 2-1 victory over Detroit in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, had played through the injury “for quite a while” according to GM Ray Shero. Talbot will miss training camp and the start of next season.

* “For how good the hockey team is and I really believe it has a chance to win the Stanley Cup. With the addition of (Marian) Hossa and the experience last year, it’s a group with a lot of skill and talent and hungry kids who want the Cup. They have all the elements of making a run at it for this year and years to come. I had no problem giving up security for a chance to win. Something the team needed was my experience and someone to do the job I’ve done with the Devils for the last nine years; I’ll do anything to help the team win.” — John Madden has high hopes after signing a one-year deal to play in Chicago.

* “It’s not the first trade for me. It’s just part of the life, the way I look at it. I don’t look at it like, ‘Oh, they didn’t sign me, I’m going to try to do damage (to them).’” — Alex Kovalev after leaving Montreal (who replaced him with Brian Gionta) to sign with Ottawa.

* “I am very excited to be able to retire a Philadelphia Flyer and I am looking forward to many years with the Flyers logo on my chest.” — The newest Broad Street Bully, Chris Pronger meets the Philadelphia media after inking a seven-year extension.

Material from personal interviews, wire services, newspaper, and league and team sources was used in this report.
Dan Rice covers the New Jersey Devils & NHL for NYCSportsnetwork.com is a contributor to Maxhockey.com & IslesNation.com